Inedia

Thunder rumbled as dark clouds blotted out the sun. Cries and curses rang out incessantly across Xiaojiang Mountain. Streaks of light flashed by as a raging conflagration engulfed Xiaojiang Mountain in flames. Even the torrential downpour failed to extinguish the terrifying inferno. The blaze burned without pause for ten whole days. All of Xiaojiang Mountain was reduced to ruins. Several streaks of light flew above the ruins of Xiaojiang Mountain, seemingly searching for something. "Did you find her?" "No." "Useless trash. A bunch of Purple Mansions can't even catch a single mortal?" "Before the fire started, she was right here in Xiaojiang Mountain. With her bizarre fate constitution, she doesn't even qualify as Qi Refining. She must have perished in the blaze." "Xiaojiang Mountain spans three hundred li. She should be... dead." "Damn it. Our descent time is limited, and there are too many powerhouses in this world. Otherwise..." "The Innate Primordial Physique and the Devouring Primordial Physique—two supreme primordial physiques actually gathered in a single person! If we could obtain even one of them..." "No matter. Since she is already dead, our mission is complete." "Even if she isn't dead, she will starve to death or burst from overeating." "To kill this little bastard, we even wasted a precious Descent Dao Talisman." The voices gradually faded, and the streaks of light vanished. Xiaojiang Mountain, spanning three hundred li, had become a desolate wasteland scarred everywhere by the fire. After an unknown time, a petite figure crawled out from underground. She looked like a little girl of only eleven or twelve. Her hair was scorched yellow, the tips bearing singe marks from the flames. Her clothes were tattered and ragged like a beggar's, but upon closer inspection, one could see they had once been an exquisitely crafted princess gown. She raised her head and looked up at the sky. She saw a canopy filled with stars, yet not a single one was familiar to her. A deep sense of loneliness welled up within her. She had been weak and sickly since childhood, nearly dying in infancy. However, her parents discovered that she possessed the Innate Primordial Physique. The Innate Primordial Physique was one of the ten strongest physiques ever discovered. Such a physique was pure and flawless, like celestial glazed jade, untainted by earthly dust. Naturally, the members of her clan lavished her with every form of affection. Yet, alongside the Innate Primordial Physique, her body also harbored the Devouring Primordial Physique—another among the ten greatest physiques. If the Innate Primordial Physique was all about untainted purity, abstaining from earthly food, the Devouring Primordial Physique devoured everything under heaven. The two physiques were inherently in conflict. Because of this, even though she was already twelve years old, her body remained as frail as a mortal's. Every day, the clan expended immense resources to purchase foul-tasting nutrient fluid just to keep her alive. She was very grateful; she was deeply grateful to her father and mother as well. Especially her mother, who was the only one truly kind to her and willing to tolerate her willful temper. Even though she knew that her father and mother kept her alive only to conduct a massive business transaction. Her parents hid it from her, as did all the clansmen. In the clan, harmony seemed to reign. Everyone appeared wonderful to her on the surface, treating her like a princess and cradling her in the palms of their hands. She, too, had been willful and spoiled, reveling in everyone's pampering. Yet she knew that all of it was an illusion. Those people showered her with boundless affection on the surface, but in reality, she could hear the thoughts in their hearts. In other words, she could hear their heart-voices. When her father looked at her, his eyes held doting affection, but even more so, the greed reserved for lucrative merchandise. Her mother was deeply conflicted, often coming to hold her at night, her heart-voice brimming with self-reproach, seemingly repeating over and over, begging for her forgiveness. Yet the little girl never felt her mother was in the wrong. Her mother owed her nothing to begin with; she had fed her, clothed her, and endured her childish tantrums. Even if they sold her... it was only natural, wasn't it? The little girl had seen all kinds of people. And she had heard all manner of filthy thoughts in their hearts. The sacred, majestic Holy Father fancied white-haired old men the most. The high-and-mighty provincial governor was consumed by ambition, constantly plotting rebellion. Such a life continued until she was eleven. One day, her father came to her in high spirits, claiming he had found a way to cure her condition and was taking her to seek medical treatment. Yet she heard her father's heart-voice. She knew he had merely found a buyer. She happily boarded the flying boat together with her mother. During those few days, her mother's mood had been consistently heavy. She felt happy, because three times she had heard her mother contemplate taking her and running away. Even though, in the end, it was mostly because... the buyer simply offered far too much. However, on the way to seek treatment, an unexpected disaster struck. A group of mysterious figures ambushed their flying boat. The flying boat crashed, and in that instant, her Innate Primordial Physique suddenly flared to life, transporting her to the nearest innate world. Some of the mysterious attackers used Descent Dao Talismans to pursue her into this world, determined to slaughter her. After the inferno subsided, she crawled out from the ruins. She did not rise like a phoenix from the flames, but merely waited in silence for death. She curled up on the ground, her gaze dull and vacant. "So... hungry..." A crushing wave of hunger swept over her, and she bore it in silence. "Starving to death... feels terrible." She looked at the soil on the ground, yearning to take a bite. Yet she knew that if she took even a single bite, the agony she would suffer from her Innate Primordial Physique would be ten times, a hundred times worse than starvation. The Devouring Primordial Physique devoured everything. The Innate Primordial Physique rejected everything. These two conflicting physiques were what made her. And so she could only slowly wait for death. After an unknown time, a heart-voice suddenly drifted into her ears. 'Is this... the Holy Mother of Inedia?' 'To run into her again, what a coincidence.' The little girl remained curled on the ground without moving, as though she hadn't heard a thing. Having lived over a decade in her clan, what she was best at was disguising herself and playing her part. She was both curious and puzzled by the clear male voice, but she showed none of it. "What's your name?" the male voice spoke aloud this time, addressing her directly. She froze. A name? She had no name. Perhaps because she was destined to be sold from the moment she was born, the clan had never even given her a name, not wanting her entered into the genealogy. The others called her Tenth Miss, and her mother called her Little Ten. She recalled the words from the man's voice just now... Holy Mother of Inedia. Curiosity surfaced on her face. "My name is Wu Shi... Who are you?" "Wu Shi?" The man fell silent for a moment, then gazed upon the frail, diminutive body of the Holy Mother of Inedia before him. He had not expected that the Holy Mother of Inedia, who towered over the Mortal Heart Realm, had actually endured such a miserable childhood. 'Who set fire to the mountain? How utterly devoid of morals. They ought to be thrown in prison,' the man thought to himself. Hearing this, Wu Shi, who had kept her head lowered, suddenly felt a ripple of amusement in her heart for some reason. This person's heart-voice was... bizarre. It was unlike anything she had heard before. "You probably haven't eaten in days. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll treat you to a meal." Wu Shi heard the man's spoken words, followed immediately by his heart-voice: 'Pity I came from the future and can't affect this world. Otherwise, I'd kill someone and treat the Holy Mother of Inedia to a funeral feast. After all, she merged with the Heavenly Pillar to keep it standing, which counts as doing me a huge favor.' Wu Shi was stunned. Her curiosity about the man deepened. For she had once overheard the Holy Father talking with Great-Grandfather; both had mentioned that the past and present existed, but there was no future. And yet here was someone who came from the future. She wondered: could it be true? A person's heart-voice... could not lie. Had he truly seen her future self? And merging with the Heavenly Pillar? Doing him a huge favor? Wu Shi remained somewhat guarded, but then a gurgling rumble sounded—her stomach traitorously growled. "I can't eat food," she answered, furrowing her brow. That feeling of nausea was something she would remember for a lifetime. "My treat. Don't worry, you can eat it. Just don't go starving to death right now," the man said softly. 'If the Holy Mother of Inedia starves to death and the Heavenly Pillar topples because of me, how am I supposed to keep playing the game?' "Really?" Wu Shi asked, skeptical. There was no nutrient fluid in this world. What could she possibly eat? "Why would I lie to a little girl?" the man continued. "You're pretty strange yourself. Why aren't you breathing any air?" "You're very strange too," Wu Shi whispered. The man before her was indeed bizarre. Even the thoughts in his head were utterly bizarre. "Where is the food?" Wu Shi asked. She was truly starving. The urge of the Devouring Primordial Physique to consume everything was not something she could endure. If she could truly get something edible, she might genuinely be willing to merge with the Heavenly Pillar and do him that favor, just as he had said. "Follow me. Let's get out of these ruins," the man said helplessly. The ruins were vast, stretching a full three hundred li. "You won't starve to death on the way, will you?" the man asked with genuine concern. "No," Wu Shi replied. She was very hungry, but she wouldn't starve to death just yet. "That's good. If you die now, who's going to merge with the Heavenly Pillar for me later?" the man chuckled. Wu Shi fell silent. Shouldn't words like that... be kept in his thoughts? Blurting it out like that—wasn't he afraid of ruining his image in her eyes? She kept quiet and said nothing. "Actually, I'm quite curious. If I see you in the future, will you recognize me?" the man asked. "I probably will." "Yet every time I see the Holy Mother of Inedia, it's as if she's meeting me for the first time. Little one, just what kind of secret is hiding inside your body?" The man's gaze fell upon her, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. "Maybe... her memory is like a fish's, lasting only a few seconds." Wu Shi hunched her shoulders, her tiny body trudging across the ruined ground. Her small soles were covered in black soot, scarred with burns from the fire. "Walking like this is way too slow, like Sun Wukong taking Tang Seng on the journey to fetch scriptures. Let me teach you some spells." "Spells?" Wu Shi asked, intrigued. Looking toward Qi Yuan's position, she said earnestly, "If I... learn spells, I won't be tasty anymore." Once her physique cultivated spells, it would lose its value. That was why the clan had never allowed her to cultivate. "With how soot-black you look, tasty? That's hilarious!" The man burst into laughter. Wu Shi blinked in surprise. He... hadn't come for her physique? "Hurry up. I'll teach you a spell so you can fly across. Trudging like this will take until the year of the monkey!" the man said. "The cultivation technique I compiled myself is called the Qi Yuan Scripture, but it probably doesn't suit you. I'll just teach you some casual flight spell. It's an art of my own creation called Princess Rides a Broom." Soon, Qi Yuan cobbled together a spell based on this world and Wu Shi's constitution. In the Mortal Heart Realm, Qi Yuan's strength had already reached the Mythological realm. Fabricating a flight spell based on the Mortal Heart Realm's rules was child's play. "This incantation is very simple. Give it a try," Qi Yuan said, imparting the newly made spell to Wu Shi. Wu Shi paused, hesitating. She tested the waters, saying, "If I learn this spell... I won't be valuable anymore." "You're a person, not merchandise. What's all this nonsense about being valuable or not?" the man replied casually. Meanwhile, he thought to himself: 'The Holy Mother of Inedia definitely bumped her head as a kid. She's so weird. I can't let her cultivate the Qi Yuan Scripture. She doesn't have a clear mind like mine; if she cultivated it, she'd definitely end up even crazier.' Hearing his heart-voice, Wu Shi fell silent for a moment. Committing the Princess Rides a Broom spell to memory, she began learning it. After a dozen breaths, surprise flickered in the man's eyes nearby. "As expected of the number one powerhouse in the Mortal Heart Realm—mastering it that fast? Find a wooden stick, sit on it, and follow my guidance." Hearing this, Wu Shi stared blankly toward where the man was, then found a wooden stick. Straddling the stick between her legs, she circulated the spell. Swaying precariously, she rose into the air. "Now you look a bit like a witch. By the way, are you afraid of heights? If you get acrophobia and plummet from the sky, that'd be hilarious." The man led the way ahead, chiming in with bizarre comments from time to time. Wu Shi followed closely behind. After an unknown time, the two came to a halt beside a small pond. A fierce battle seemed to have taken place here; half the pond's water was gone, and many dead fish lay strewn across the ground. "Cook the fish, and you can eat," the man said, clapping his hands together with apparent excitement. Wu Shi stared blankly. She was ravenous, yet looking at those fish, she felt only nausea and revulsion. "I... don't eat fish." A flurry of thoughts flashed through the man's mind. He said, "Cook it first, and you'll understand right away. These fish are different from what you've eaten before." Wu Shi hesitated, but in the end, she chose to trust the man before her. After all, he had even let her cultivate. If her clan found out, they would probably tear him into eighteen pieces. Still, that was merely a passing thought. Her clan... would never come here. For the first time, she prepared fish by skewering it on a stick to roast. Just then, she seemed to sense the man approaching. Curiosity showed on her face, and then she heard the man speak. "Go on, try a bite." Wu Shi looked at the fish before her, a timid look in her eyes. Because that sensation was something she never wanted to experience again. Even with her Devouring Primordial Physique, eating any food made her want to kill herself every single time. Only the nutrient fluid was somewhat bearable. Parting her lips, she took a gentle bite of the charred fish and chewed. A warm, soothing heat swept through her limbs. She felt as though her entire body were bathed in sunlight. She felt a warmth she had never experienced before. "It's... so delicious." It was the first time she had ever tasted something so good. Compared to this, the nutrient fluid she had consumed in the past belonged in the deepest abyss. Even if she were to die after finishing this piece of fish, she felt it would be worth it. Amusement glinted in the man's eyes. "Right now, you look just like a cat eating a cat treat." He looked at Wu Shi as if watching a pet in a movie. Wu Shi continued eating the fish, savoring a delicacy she had never known. Turning her head toward where the man stood, she asked, "Why is it so delicious?" "A secret," the man answered. Wu Shi felt disappointed. Because when the man said it was a secret, his heart hadn't provided the real answer either. "I want to eat another fish. I can grant you a wish," Wu Shi said timidly. She wanted to eat more. The man beside her smiled. He did not answer Wu Shi's words, but thought to himself: 'What was the point of coming to meet her? Perhaps none at all.' 'Just... to take a look at history.' History was sealed away by time, stories buried in the dust. A dull corner peeled back might well be the entire life of a living soul.